by JABEZ CHOI and THOMAS BREEN The new haven independent
(Updated) Gary Hogan will be the next alder representing Beaver Hills’ Ward 28, after the neighborhood’s Democratic ward committee co-chair won Tuesday’s special election to fill the seat left vacant following Alder Tom Ficklin’s unexpected death in October.
Hogan declared victory soon after the polls closed and the machine tallies were announced at 8 p.m. at Hillhouse High School.
He won 222 votes at the machines; his challenger, former Alder Claudette Robinson-Thorpe, won 67. The Independent was not able to confirm by the publication time of this article how many early and absentee votes were cast for each candidate, though those numbers were reportedly small.
Hogan will fill out the rest of Ficklin’s two-year term, which runs through the end of 2025.
Hogan, a retired former housing authority vice president and Livable City Initiative (LCI) deputy director who has lived in Beaver Hills for nearly his entire life, thanked community members for showing up for yet another election — the second this month, the fifth so far this year. This is also the second election Hogan has won this year, after being reelected as Democratic ward co-chair in March.
He pledged to focus on addressing crime and affordability in the neighborhood, and thanked Robinson-Thorpe for the good fight. He said he looks forward to working with her, even now that the race is done.
Pending the final early and absentee voting numbers, turnout in Tuesday’s special election was likely around 16 percent, as there are 1,833 eligible voters in the ward, and 289 voted at the polls.
See below for an earlier version of this story.